{abstract art, junior}

This Christmas, we decided to take advantage of Tilly's new colouring craze. I saw this lovely idea on Pinterest, to frame a child's art along with a photograph of them creating it. 

So, out came the crayons and the camera, and we got to work.

(Can you spot Justin's drawing of a baseball bat bat? Genius)

Of course, when buying the frame, I didn't think to check it was the right size for my photo -- a 5 x 7 frame for a 4 x 6 photo. Rather than leaving blank space around the photo, I cut out an extra big piece of art -- enough to fill the lower frame, and serve as a mat for the photo in the top frame. I love how the colouring overlaps -- because, really, what fun is it to stay within the lines?

Signed and dated, of course, for future reminiscing pleasure. It seems we've got another lover of red in our midst...

Note: Our quilt for this month is finished -- have a look here.

Also Note: I was lucky enough to be a part of The Pickled Herring's Scandinavian Christmas again this year. You can read my post on the Danish nisse here. 

{in progress: shelves and nails}

In between unpacking and repacking suitcases, we are still finding time to get our woodworking on. Remember the world's cheapest shelves that we're planning to put up in the office? 

The plan was to use the eight-foot planks that we'd used to construct our photo booth (tutorial here, if you need a reminder). After hauling the planks in, though, (yes, giant nails still attached... apparently I have no sense of danger) and propping them roughly in place to see if we liked the look, it seems that these planks are just a little too narrow at one-and-a-half inches wide. Yes, they hold postcards. But they look a little strange. Plus, Justin is very eager to try routing a groove down each plank (just as they did on Young House Love), and one-and-a-half inches leaves little room to get his groove on. Plus plus, our planks are a little warped, which is fine for a photo booth, but rather more of a problem in shelving.

Therefore, we've decided that it's better to spring the $8 for new, wider planks. As we'll have to buy a drill to put this all together anyway (ours, we believe, was stolen while we were out for a walk -- can you believe that?), I'm thinking that the title World's Cheapest Shelves isn't quite so accurate anymore. But we're excited to get working on them... until then, I leave you with Rock Pig:

{what the hack}

Saying that we, as a family, are IKEA-crazy is the understatement of the century. I can look around your living room and point out the Swedish flat-packed furniture (though maybe you wish I wouldn't). I can probably even give you the unintelligible name for it all, too. POANG, EKTORP, EXPEDIT; growing up as the daughter of an IKEA employee, that was the language of home. 

So, as you might imagine, IKEAHackers.net is the New Yorker of my world. And though they classify it as a 'minor' hack, (which, let's face it, is true: the Vimpel has returned to its life as a duvet cover already) I am absolutely over the moon about seeing our handiwork (and Justin's pajamas) on their site. Check it out here.

And, if you're feeling the excitement, too, why not go ahead and 'like' it, and we'll see if we can be a top hack of the month!